Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi
It is not yet celebration time for Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi after he was successfully screened by the Senate yesterday.
It has been authoritatively revealed that PDP senators have vowed
to oppose the confirmation of Amaechi as a minister when the house
resumes on October 27. The PDP senators who alleged that they were
betrayed, threatened to cause chaos and disorder when plenary resumes.
According to them, the All Progressives Congress (APC) senators
betrayed the agreement they had not to screen Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi
because of the pending petitions against his person. It was revealed
that the ethics committe had advised the senate not to screen the
ex-governor until the reports of investigations against him confirms his
innocence.
A PDP senator said they had agreed with their APC counterparts that
Amaechi should not be screened until he is cleared of all allegations
but were surprised by the recent turn of events.
The PDP senator whose name is not given said: “We had opened
Thursday’s sitting with a closed session, which lasted for 50 minutes to
sort out knotty issues relating to the screening of Amaechi. During the
closed session, Chairman of the Ethics Committee, Senator Samuel
Anyanwu, briefed us on the report and indicated that the committee
reported that the issue regarding Amaechi’s petition was in court and
that the Senate should suspend action on his screening, pending the
resolution of the court issues.”
This was corroborated by another PDP senator who said they were
surprised when APC senators went against their earlier agreement and
started asking Amaechi questions. He said the decision they reached in
the closed door session they had with APC senators was to have nothing
to do with Amaechi, while their APC senators would only ask the nominee
to take a bow and go. Surprisingly, the APC senators refused to keep
their own bargain. He said as a result, the PDP senators have resolved
to vocally oppose Amaechi's confirmation. The PDP senator promised total
chaos when time for confirmation comes.
An APC senator has countered the decision of PDP senators to cause
problem during Amaechi's confirmation come 27 October. According to the
APC senator who begged to be anonymous, he said that the PDP senators
did not say the true condition of agreement after the closed door
session.
The APC senator revealed that during the closed door session, they
(APC senators) had pleaded with their PDP counterparts to allow Amaechi
to be screened while the debate of the report of the ethics committee
continued to avoid controversy. He said they do not know why the PDP
senators are now singing a new song after Amaechi has been screened. He
called on PDP senators to allow order reign when plenary resumes. He
said the APC senators will not take it lightly if things don't go
according to plan.
The ex-governor of Rivers state, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi was
screened by the Senate along with other ministerial nominees. His
presence at the Senate was greeted with great stare and jeers as he took
the podium to address questions thrown at him by members of the senate.
He along with other ministerial nominees are slated to be confirmed
when plenary resumes next week.